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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on October 5, 2011: |
Paul & Gina
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I arrived at 7.30 for a 8.30 appointment time. There was a short queue, but it already began to move by the time I arrived.
I didn't have an appointment letter, only confirmation via email, and this raised an initial query with the first line security but they let me proceed.
An FYI - the no electrics into the embassy literally means no electrics! Even the fob on your car keys is a no-go. I couldn't believe the amount of people who feel foul of this. It must really frustrate the staff who work there.
Once inside, you go around to a reception who allocate you a number & then it's up into a big room which acts like Argos, as there are big screens showing the numbers and tannoy announcements when it's your turn.
This happened fairly quickly for me, and off to window one I went. Here I was greeted by a seemingly friendly lady, of far east origin. All started to turn sour however. First she chuntered to herself and went off in a huff when she didn't have my file. On return, she gave me a load of grief that I hadn't submitted one of the forms (which I obviously had) and made me fill it out at the counter. In hindsight, I should have made copies of all the paperwork submitted & the additional documents required. Then, she literally laid into me about the quality of my Snappy Snaps photos. She slammed them down saying "why you go there?? There's no good enough". But all the time she spoke, it was in very broken English (I don't know whether she was an American citizen even), so I couldn't make out what she was saying a lot of the time. Anyway, she gave me a card for a photo place in Oxford St. & I began to be thought I'd be sent out to get more, but somehow things proceeded and she told me to sat down. I did this, feeling very flustered (very rare for me!!) and not really knowing what was going on.
Then a few minutes later I was called for the 'interview'. This I thought would be sat down in person, but again it was just in front of a higher-numbered window. It was the total opposite of the first part. A super friendly woman greeted me with a smile, asked a couple of questions about our wedding as she did her paperwork, & just said "ya'll have supplied plenty of evidence meaning you're granted a visa. Congratulations!". And that was it!
I then went in line to arrange for my passport to be returned, and even though I requested the basic service, it was delivered in just a few short days.
All in all, my 'Jekyll & Hyde' interview took around 2hrs from queuing to departure.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #8460